My son shared with me today that a few boys in his class keep raising their middle finger at the teacher when he is not looking. How do I deal with this? Should I inform the teacher, or simply just educate my child on what is right and wrong- but this makes me feel like I am doing wrong by not alerting the other kids' parents on their behaviour. On the other hand, if I inform them about this incident, my son may not trust me again. Help!

I'm not sure how old you child and his schoolmates are but juvenile behavior like this is always expected in children. I'm not advocating it, but it won't soon leave the realm of your child's school. As a former educator, I can say that I've seen a fair share of behavior similar to this. Trust me, your son's educator knows just how to deal with this type of situation without calling notice to you or your son. In short, unless your son is telling you that his classmates' behavior is hindering his ability to pay attention I don't see the need to tell the teacher. In my professional opinion, there are no classrooms on God's green earth that have not been exposed to one or two juvenile distractions. Educators are trained to discipline and handle distractions like this accordingly. So, don't worry about informing the teacher unless it's truly become a huge burden on the classroom as a whole. If your son is unfamiliar with this or any obscenities, you need to discuss with him the significance of the act. You certainly don't want him to be in trouble for anything silly like this. Never be afraid to reiterate the values of right and wrong behavior.